Emergency Voting Protocols Executed In Texas

Chambers County election officials have executed an emergency protocol to remove all electronic voting machines available during early voting until a software update can be completed to correct problems experienced by straight-ticket voters.

Chambers County Clerk Heather Hawthorne told Breitbart Texas Tuesday morning that all electronic voting was temporarily halted until her office completes a “software update” on ES&S machines that otherwise “omit one race” when a straight ticket option is selected for either major party. The Texas 14th Court of Appeals race was reported to be the contest in which voters commonly experienced the glitch.

Hawthorne explained that she expects the technical difficulties to be completely addressed by end of business Tuesday. In the interim, regular paper ballots will be used. The county clerk told Breitbart Texas that before the machines were pulled, poll workers were instructed to alert voters to the glitch and double-check their selections.

Chambers County sits east of Texas’ largest county, Harris, and serves roughly 26,000 registered voters. Hawthorne noted that since polls opened on Monday, only one voter did not have proper photo identification and was required to complete an affidavit to cast a regular ballot. Breitbart Texas recently reported a similar trend in neighboring Harris County where less than 10 out of more than 67,000 ballots cast lacked ID.